It looks like Gordon Goodwin and his Band have been on either the Paleo or Whole 30 diet. The leader looks slim and trim, and his band has lost some weight as well, thinning down to a svelt “Little Phat…
Category: Concert Reviews
HAPPENINGS 50 YEARS TIME AGO…The Yardbirds@The Canyon Club 07.21.16
With the last remaining original member Jim McCarty still at the helm behind the drums, the legendary Yardbirds celebrated the 50 year anniversary of one of rock music’s most exciting albums, Roger the Engineer. Recorded in just 7 hours, the…
Roy Hargrove’s Quintet@ Catalina’s 07.14.16
It was a mysterious night at Catalina’s for Roy Hargrove’s first set of his weekend long run. Once perennially one of jazz’s top 2 or 3 trumpeters, Hargrove hasn’t released a new album for over 6 years. This evening, he…
Gian-Carla Tisera@Boston Court 07.09.16
A couple of years ago, Bolivian vocalist Gian-Carla Tisera released her debut album Nora La Bella that impressed me so much that I actually wrote in the review “When is she coming to LA?”. Well, she finally arrived here, and…
Marquis Hill CD Release Concert@The Blue Whale 07.08.16
Trumpeter Marquis Hill give ample justification for being selected as the winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition as he presented music from his latest album The Way We Play in front of a packed crowd at the…
Al Di Meola@Canyon Club 06.16.16
It seems that guitarist Al Di Meola can’t stop relighting the fuse to fusion, and justifiably so. Billing this tour as the “Elegant Gypsy Meets Romantic Warrior”, the jazz-rock pioneer keeps the candle lit in the window as he makes…
Pharoah Sanders w/ Harold Mabern Trio @ Catalina’s 06.10.16
This is why I love jazz… I get to the club early to meet tenor sax legend Pharoah Sanders in order to get a “set list” from him for this review. He’s in his room sitting and fingering his sax…
Cyrille Aimee Quintet @The Blue Whale 06.09.16
The first time I heard vocalist Cyrille Aimee on an album, I thought she was from the Midwest, as her diction, dialect and sense of swing seemed to have come right out of the Kay Starr-Mildred Bailey school of hot…
Julian Lage Trio @ The Blue Whale 06.04.16
Guitarist Julian wage has displayed his wares in a variety of settings over the years in LA. He teamed up with his own trio a few years ago, did a duet gig with Nels Cline, another one with pianist with…
Leon Russell, Booker T Jones, Jo-El Sonnier &Kelly’s Lot@The Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Festival 05.29.16
Forget the Playboy Jazz Festival; the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues fest beats the older and richer sister. This is coming from a jazzer, yet still, pound for pound and dollar for dollar, I have more fun here than in…